U.K. Cancels Major LGBTQ Event After Conversion Therapy U-Turn

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. government has canceled its first international LGBTQ conference after more than 100 organizations pulled out in protest of the decision to drop a ban on so-called conversion therapy for transgender people, the BBC reported, without saying where it got the information.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office sparked a widespread backlash from activists last week when it backtracked on its pledge. On Tuesday, the U.K.'s LGBT Business Champion also resigned in protest at the government's decision.

The “Safe To Be Me” event had been billed by the government as the U.K.'s first global LGBTQ conference, which would “tackle inequality around the world and urge countries to take action.” It was due to take place in late June to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first official London Pride marches.

Read more: LGBTQ Groups Pull Out of U.K. Government Event

The discredited conversion therapy practice attempts to convert individuals to be heterosexual or cisgender, or both. A national poll of Britain's LGBTQ community five years ago found that 2% of respondents had undergone the therapies and 5% of respondents had been offered them.

The prime minister has “made the point emphatically that people who want to make a transition in their lives should be treated with the maximum possible generosity and respect, but the complexity of issues requires separate work to further consider transgender conversation therapy,” the government said last week.

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